mid-life crisis? carla
Why are they witnesses
by joelbear 15 Replies latest jw friends
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Shania
Because they are afraid to step out of the little puddle and look at the big ocean before them...........
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Check_Your_Premises
Well there are basically two dub types, those who are raised in it and those who join of their own volition. I think the second one is more interesting. No offense to you raised-dub types. I just figure you didn't have a chance to believe anything else.
Now for those who join as adults. Here is my list off the top of my head. I am saying most of this type of dub will have one of the following causes for their jw-itis (a disease similar to Alzheimer's in that it deteriorates a person's ability to think and slowly eats away their personality. It's defining symptom is the belief that the jw is God's one true religion)
Need to believe it.
1. Have a lack of trust in their own conscience. They probably have a lot of guilt, and think they need someone telling them what to do, because they have made such a muck of doing it themselves.
2. History of abuse. Apparantly those who are abused, tend to seek out controlling relationships because they have familiarity and therefore comfort.
3. A lot of bad experiences which leave them with the idea that the world is an exclusively awful place. They need to find security in a group of people who confidently espouse to have all the answers.
Mind Control
4. Basically jw are compliance professionals. They know how to manipulate B - ehavior, I - nformation, T - oughts, and E-motions so that the person lives in an altered sense of reality that is also the one they happen to want.
Critical Thinking
5. They lack basic critical thinking skills. The witness paradigm is, like all other human paradigms incomplete and inconsistent on some level. Hey, nobody is perfect! A witness though has no ability, desire, or permission to analyze their paradigm with a critical eye. They all know this deep down, that is why it is a closed paradigm (they won't ever allow it to be questioned in their mind). The truth can exist perfectly fine in an open paradigm. Only lies need to be concealed by the protection of a closed mind.
Biblical Ignorance
6. They lack a comprehensive and contextual knowledge of the Bible. The witensses are really good at explaining and connecting about 100 verses. A a result they come off as being quite knowledgeable. If you talk about some verses outside their top 100, they are lost.
7. They lack a systematic and comprehensive method of scriptural exegises. The only valid way to decipher meaning from the text is to interpret it in the way the author meant it to be recieved for his intended audience. Their method of interpreting the Bible involves a highly complex process that involves asking the "slave" what to think.
Lack of Faith 8. Their faith is not strong enough to stand without some "visible" evidence of the divine presence. The Oooooooold standby
9. Pride. What kind of person reads the Bible and "sees" that it is prophecying about themselves. Naturally, anybody coming to a conclusion that just so happens to bestow upon themselves the highest of honours should be viewed with a skeptical eye. Further what type of person needs to define themselves relative to others such that you are the "one true" servant of God, while others are fools and evil tools of Satan. The need to be "in" the in crowd is rooted in self worship. Even if you believe it, you don't need to wallow in it by constantly running everyone else down. If you are really cool you don't have to tell everyone and yourself how cool you are.
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M.J.
SOJ, have you tried Hare Krishna?
J/K
Seriously, how about Christadelphians or Bible Students?
I personally feel that the issues surrounding the organizational idolatry that the Watchtower promotes are more offensive to Jehovah than any sound doctrine could ever hope to make up for.
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jaffacake
Sword of Jah
But your own Bible teaches that you are supposed to be WITNESSES of Christ, why not Christ's witnesses, I'm sure you know the scripture. Jehovah was only ever mentioned in the Hebrew scripture, not the Christian, becuase that was God's name only for the natural Jews.
The JWs deserve credit for restoring some form of the Divine name to the OT. LORD in the OT where the ancient manuscripts rendered the Tetragrammaton is unacceptable.
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ezekiel3
Check Your Premises: Great analysis!
jw-itis (a disease similar to Alzheimer's in that it deteriorates a person's ability to think and slowly eats away their personality.
I do believe JW-life atophies the brain. I have watched my parents age in this religion as well as other long-timers and see this all the time.
The brain is like a muscle, watch out!